Insider Names Surprising Cleveland Browns Cut Candidate

The Cleveland Browns could make a surprising cut before the 2025 NFL season.

Oct 20, 2013; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Cleveland Browns helmet sits on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 31-13. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns will have plenty of decisions to make between now and the start of the 2025 NFL season, and that includes making some potentially surprising cuts.

Zac Jackson of The Athletic has already identified a Browns player could be on the outs if he doesn't show dramatic improvement quickly after a rough 2024 campaign, and that's kicker Dustin Hopkins.

"Coming off Hopkins’ nightmarish 2024 season, his outlook can also fairly be tied to some bigger-picture issues," Jackson wrote. "Hopkins and special teams coach Bubba Ventrone were rightly celebrated for their contributions in the 11-win season of 2023. Hopkins got a contract extension from general manager Andrew Berry before last season, then made just 18 of 27 field goals and also missed three PATs. Hopkins has to be better, immediately, or the Browns will have to move on."

Leaving points on the board is obviously never a good thing, and while Cleveland wasn't making the playoffs regardless of what Hopkins did last season, results still matter.

The Browns are once again expected to be cellar dwellars in 2025, but that does not mean they should accept substandard production from their special teams group.

There is definitely a good chance that Hopkins turns things around this year, as he was a very solid kicker even before initially arriving in Cleveland in 2023.

The 34-year-old began his career with the Washington Commanders in 2015 and spent six-and-a-half seasons there before being released midway through 2021, when he joined the Los Angeles Chargers for a year-and-a-half.

Hopkins has connected on 84 percent of his field-goal attempts throughout his NFL tenure.

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